Wayne State 75 Augustana 60
Wayne State used a pair of 11-0 runs in the first half to rout Augustana College 75-60 in the 2010 NSIC Sanford Health Women's Basketball Tournament semi finals Saturday afternoon at the Gangelhoff Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was the 14th straight win for the Wildcats, now 25-4 on the season, and puts WSC in the title game on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. against #4 seed Minnesota Duluth, who upset top-seed Concordia-St. Paul 80-73 in the other semi final late Saturday afternoon.
Augustana opened the game on a three pointer by Faith Tinklenberg for a 3-0 lead, then WSC responded with an 11-0 run highlighted by a Kati Jo Christensen three pointer and back to back treys from Ashley Arlen to take an 11-3 lead. The Wildcats used another 11-0 run later in the half from the 10:10 mark to 7:04 left in the half to lead 29-15 following a Mara Hjelle basket. Hjelle went on to score 10 straight points for the 'Cats and WSC ended the half with an Alyssa Fischbach buzzer beater that gave Wayne State a 42-30 lead at intermission.
WSC dominated the paint in the first half, outscoring Augustana 20-8 in the lane. The Wildcats also had 16 points off of 11 Viking turnovers. The 'Cats shot 43.6 percent (17 of 39) from the field and 45.5 percent (5 of 11) from the three point line in the first half.
The Wildcats continued to put pressure on the Vikings in the second half. WSC would increase their lead thanks to seven straight points from Clare Duwelius that included two layups and a three pointer. WSC built a game-high 18 point lead following an Alisha Brown layup and the Wildcats went on to defeat Augustana 75-60.
WSC shot 47.6 percent (30 of 63) from the field, 38.9 percent (7 of 18) behind the three point line and 80 percent (8 of 10) at the charity stripe. WSC outrebounded the Vikings 40-36 on the afternoon and the Wildcat bench had 22 points to just nine for Augustana.
Augustana shot 35.9 percent (23 of 64) from the field, 28.6 percent (6 of 21) from the three point line and 88.9 percent (8 of 9) at the free throw line.
Wayne State was led in scoring by Ashley Arlen who continued her sensational play with 22 points and 12 rebounds, her ninth double-double of the season. Arlen also had three steals and season-high four blocks. Mara Hjelle finished with 18 points and seven rebounds while Clare Duwelius rounded out Wildcat players in double figures with 12 points. Alyssa Fischbach added six points and eight rebounds.
For Augustana, Faith Tinklenberg had 15 points going 5 for 12 from the field. Megan Doyle added 11 points and Lydia Nelson had 10. Both Molly Hayes and Doyle grabbed nine boards apiece to lead the Vikings.
Wayne State will now face Minnesota Duluth Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. in the 2010 NSIC Sanford Health Women's Basketball Tournament final after the Bulldogs surprised top seed Concordia-St. Paul 80-73 in Saturday's other semi-final. WSC and UMD met once this season with Minnesota Duluth edging the Wildcats 54-51 in Duluth on January 2nd.
